Effects of relaxation breathing exercise on fatigue and cortisol level among Indonesian gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy:a pilot study

Objective:This study aimed to determine the effect of the relaxation breathing exercise(RBE)on fatigue and cortisol levels among Indonesian women with gynecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy.Methods:This pilot study consecutively recruited 44 gynecological cancer patients to receive RBE(22)or usual care(22).Cortisol level was measured before and after completion of the intervention(day 8).Fatigue was measured using the Piper Fatigue Scale(PFS).Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS)at the baseline days of the study for days 1,4,and 8.The obtained data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test,the independent t-test,and the Mann-Whitney U test.Results:There were significant increases in cortisol levels within the groups,either the intervention or control groups,respectively(P-value=0.0003 and 0.001).Despite there being no statistical significance between the intervention and control groups,there were noticeable differences in the cortisol levels,indicating the extreme increase in cortisol levels in the control group(Median[IQR1-IQR3]:2.30[0.99-9.09];Min-Max:0.43-23.38)compared with the intervention group(Median[IQR1-IQR3]=2.97[1.26-5.18];Min-Max=0.39-6.91).Conclusions:RBE helps prevent a significant increase in cortisol levels that can alleviate fatigue for women with gynecological cancer.Further research was recommended to compare several intervention modalities for fatigue and cancer-related symptom management based on cortisol level changes.

Effectiveness of Relaxation Breathing Exercise on fatigue in gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

Purpose:This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Relaxation Breathing Exercise(RBE)on fatigue in patients with gynaecological cancer undergoing chemotherapy.Methods:We used a quasi-experiment with pre-and post-test design.Forty-two patients were consecutively sampled,21 of whom were assigned to the group receiving RBE four times a day and 21 to the group receiving RBE twice a day.Fatigue scores were measured every day for 7 days for both groups using the Piper Fatigue Scale.Data obtained were analysed using repeated-ANOVA and independent ttest with a significant level of a<0.01.Results:We found a significant decrease(P<0.01)in the mean fatigue scores of both groups(four times RBE in a day group=3.29±0.59 and twice RBE in a day group=4.19±0.61)after the completion of the intervention.However,the four times RBE a day group showed larger decrease on fatigue scores than the twice RBE a day group did(Mean Difference=0.91;99%CI=0.41 to 1.41;P=0.001).Conclusion:Conducting RBE four times a day effectively alleviated fatigue better than RBE twice a day on gynaecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.